FONTANA – Kaiser High School senior pitcher Krystel Gabbard might not have been the most ballyhooed player in San Bernardino County this season, nor will she be playing NCAA Division I softball next season.

But she came up with perhaps the most clutch performance of all time.

Gabbard’s 11-inning shutout in the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game was tops among her many highlights, earning her All-Sun Player of the Year honors for the 2012 season.

“The last two years, she’s been focused,” Kaiser coach John Stevens said. “Losing last year (in the finals), put a fire into her. She did her best pitching in the playoffs when it was most important.

“She pitched 21 innings in four days. That shows what kind of perseverance she has. She’s a big-game pitcher.”

The crowning achievement came in the CIF-SS championship against Garden Grove and Cal State Fullerton-bound pitcher Jasmine Antunez, who Gabbard matched pitch-for-pitch.

Gabbard didn’t allow a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. She allowed only five hits in 11 innings, striking out eight in the process.

Whenever she got into a jam – and there were few – she pitched out of it. Garden Grove went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 5 in extra innings.

But for all her heroics, the Cats couldn’t score a run until pinch runner Rebecca Garcia raced home on a passed ball with two outs in the bottom of the 11th for a 1-0 victory and the school’s first CIF-SS softball title.

“I knew eventually, we were going to get it,” Gabbard said. “Every inning, I was just a little more tired.

“It was … the best I’ve ever felt. It was the most meaningful win.”

It was especially meaningful because Kaiser lost in the CIF-SS championship game last year, 5-0 to Dos Pueblos of Goleta.

Given a taste of a CIF championship game last year, Gabbard said she was more confident this year.

“It was easier this year. I was prepared more, knowing how to work through it,” she said. “I knew this year, if something happened, my team would pick me up.”

To be honest, there were some games in which Gabbard needed to be picked up. She allowed 13 runs (11 earned) in 10 innings in one Sunkist League game against Riverside Patriot.

But overall, her numbers were more than solid. She was 18-5 with a 2.10 ERA, striking out 147 in 160 innings. She also batted .389 with a team-leading five home runs, and ranked second on the team with 30 RBIs.

“I think I should’ve done a lot better (in hitting),” Gabbard said. “I feel like I should’ve been over .400. It’s not like I was hurting the team, but I feel like I could’ve helped even more.”

As for her pitching, she and Stevens agree that a key to her 2012 season was her confidence in her change-up.

“She got to the point of trusting her change-up,” Stevens said. “She would throw it in 3-1, 3-2 counts.”

“My change-up was my go-to pitch,” she said. “I had a lot more confidence in it.”

For a player who led her team to a CIF-SS title and was an All-CIF selection, her future is remarkably undecided.

She said she received some interest from schools such as

Cal State San Bernardino and Vanguard, plus a few colleges from outside California.

But instead, it appears Gabbard will play for a junior college next year, most likely Mt. San Antonio College.

“I felt like it (going to a four-year school) wasn’t right at the time,” she said. “I want to prepare a little in both academics and softball.

“I’d like to play near the beach, like UC Santa Barbara or Long Beach State.”

While the junior college route seems most likely at this point, Gabbard feels her clutch run to the CIF-SS title can pay dividends for her future.

Pete Marshall started his career as a freelancer for The Sun in 1991, then later was hired full time by the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in 1995. Since then he has covered a variety of sports for the Daily Bulletin and The Sun, primarily high school sports and minor league baseball. He's been doing it long enough that he's now covering the children of student-athletes he covered when he first started.

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